Why Are Performance Appraisals Important?

Did you know that over the years, the number of annual performance reviews has gone down? 82% of workers in 2016 said their companies used annual reviews, but by 2019, that number dropped to just 54%.

If you ask us, it’s time for safety to bring performance appraisals back.

What are safety and health performance appraisals for employees? How do you conduct them? And most importantly, why should you conduct them? Here’s a quick review for managers looking to revamp their safety processes.

What are Safety and Health Performance Appraisals for Employees?

A performance appraisal is a regular review of an employee’s performance and contribution to the company. This can be conducted as frequently as the company sees fit, though most regular performance appraisals are conducted annually. You might perform them more often for a new employee still in their training wheels, or an employee on probation.

Safety and health performance appraisals are the same basic principle as a regular performance appraisal, except these are focused entirely on health and safety. It focuses on employee safety behavior and performance during the review period. It celebrates achievements while also looking toward what can improve.

How to Conduct Safety and Health Performance Appraisals

The basic mechanics of a safety performance appraisal are the same as a typical performance appraisal. The difference is that you assess performance based on safety metrics.

The key here is to approach safety performance appraisals with the same mindset as a regular performance appraisal–and get your employees to do the same. That means shifting employee attitudes toward safety and getting them to understand that this performance appraisal is just as important for their job as their typical appraisal.

Remember, the goal of these appraisals is not to punish. Safety should not be punitive–if it is, your employees will be incentivized to hide safety issues. It’s not exactly a pure reward system either. You want to praise good behavior and recognize positive actions so that employees understand safety is part of their job and the company culture.

The Benefits of Safety and Health Performance Appraisals

Safety performance appraisals are an essential tool for your safety culture. In fact, they may be one of the best safety investments you’ll make all year.

Safety and health performance appraisals deliver the message that safety is part of an employee’s job. Rather than just repeating the same message in training, you’re demonstrating it to employees. You’re also taking the time to recognize and reward good behavior as part of an employee’s performance evaluation, putting it on the same level as productivity.

The Tools You Need to Manage Safety

What are safety and health performance appraisals for employees? In short, they’re one of the better safety investments you can make.

Our safety management software is here to make appraisals easy, with data analytics that allows you to control almost every aspect of your safety program from one intuitive dashboard. So if you’re ready to invest in safety the smart way, get in touch today to learn more.